Nick Kyrgios says he perfectly understands why Aryna Sabalenka is interested in another Battle of the Sexes, but also adds that not many ATP players would have exposed themselves to that challenge.

After losing 3-6 3-6 to the Australian in Dubai, the top-ranked WTA player issued an interesting remark by stating that she “knew the tactic for the next time.”

To no one’s surprise, that comment was interpreted as Sabalenka expressing her interest in playing against Kyrgios one more time.

The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up was directly asked to address that one. And when answering the question, the former ATP world No. 13 confirmed that he would be open to play the four-time Grand Slam champion again. Also, the 30-year-old admitted that he felt very nervous and didn’t get much sleep leading up to the match.

Kyrgios: Not many top-100 players would put themselves out there in that pressure cooker

“Of course she does. She hated my guts after the match. She’s a competitor. I understand that too. I would happily do it again but it’s not easy,” the seven-time ATP champion said.

“I know that there would be males in the top-100 that would not put their hands up and put themselves out here in that pressure cooker. That is not easy. The build-up, the days. I did not have the best sleep last night, because I know that whatever role I played in this was not easy mentally to overcome and go out there and perform in a classy manner as well.”

Kyrgios opened the match with two early breaks, but Sabalenka twice recovered. However, the Australian still routinely won the first set after clinching back-to-back breaks in the seventh and ninth games.

Down by a set, Sabalenka responded with an early 3-1 second-set lead. But Kyrgios had an answer, taking the next five games to complete a two-set win.

It remains to be seen if we will see a rematch of the Kyrgios and Sabalenka match in the future.